


Slow Down at Once

by zarabithia



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Domesticity, Fluff, Gen, Pre-New 52
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-16
Updated: 2007-07-16
Packaged: 2019-05-20 20:43:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14901654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Lian has a chat with her favorite uncle's live-in friend during a barbecue in Metropolis.





	Slow Down at Once

"…And then there’s my Aunt Kory, she’s from Tamaran," the five-year old notified her current attendant. Having been assured that it was okay to share _all_ her secrets with the man, a treat that she was rarely afforded outside of her close-knit family circle of Titans, the child had naturally gone overboard. By "share" she apparently meant to give every detail that she thought the poor uninformed man didn’t know.

Perched next to her on the patio of the larger of two apartments he shared with the child’s favorite uncle, Clark was content to listen to Lian’s proud prattling while he watched his lover best an archer and a Flash in a post-barbecue game of horseshoes in their tiny backyard. While Dick was proud of his own city, neither he nor Clark could argue that Metropolis made for better family get-togethers than Bludhaven did.

Clark patiently did not allow himself to think that Dick and his Titan friends could have had a much better game of horseshoes in the wide open spaces of Kansas than in the tiny living quarters in Metropolis that a reporter and policeman's salary afforded them. He _did_ allow for the fleeting bit of homesick that always overtook him whenever he was reminded just how far away from Smallville he really was.

As soon as the barbecue wound down and Dick’s friends went home, Clark vowed he was going to fly himself and Dick out to spend some time on the farm. Not only would Clark be able to alleviate his homesickness, but he’d be able to enjoy the jubilation that overtook his partner whenever they were sailing through the air together.

Which would more than likely lead to some alone time in a barn that was almost as large as their entire apartment complex.

Waiting would be unfortunate.

"Your Aunt Kory sounds like a very nice lady," Clark remarked when Lian crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly.

"Oh, she _is_ ," Lian said enthusiastically. "She can fly, and she makes the bestest messes in the kitchen, because she’s a princess and Aunt Dolphin says that _some_ spoiled princesses don’t have to know how to cook, but Aunt Donna says that Aunt Dolphin is a bad word I’m not allowed to say because I don’t have a dollar to put in the bad word jar."

Clark chuckled and took a drink of his lemonade while in the yard, Dick scored another point. "I’ve heard that your Aunt Dolphin can be … difficult," he said diplomatically, but with a wink that let Lian know that "difficult" translated into long displeased tirades against the woman from her favorite uncle.

Apparently the wink worked, because Lian moved closer as she nodded her head. "She doesn’t like the _Titans_ ," Lian protested, small voice full of wonder and irritation at the woman who couldn’t understand why the Titans were so magnificent. " _You_ like the Titans, don’t you?"

"Oh, but of course," Clark assured, not at all untruthfully, because what was there to dislike about the group of people Dick felt so close to that he was able to both lead them and relax around them?

Lian frowned at him before looking at the group of Titans assembled on the lawn. "Then how come you aren’t playing with them?" she asked.

It was a reasonable enough question, Clark supposed. But the answer was a bit more complicated than he could share with a five-year-old.

Dick’s friends had greeted Clark the same way they always did, with expressions that were simultaneously accepting of the man Dick claimed as a mate and standoffish of the man who wore Superman’s colors into battle. Clark understood the duality of their attitudes. The fact that Dick’s own reactions had altered between awe and acceptance had been something that had stood in the way of their relationship for years. But one day, when Clark hadn’t been looking, his little bird had grown up, and became capable of seeing _Clark_ as he was, instead of as _Superman_.

While it would be expecting too much to ask all of Dick’s friends to do the same, Clark did continue to hold out hope that the closest of Dick’s comrades, particularly the founding Titans, could eventually become a bit more at ease. Even if they never quite became as comfortable around him as Dick, Bruce, or the current Robin.

It was probably a testament to the greatness of Dick's character that the younger man didn't have any such problems charming Clark's friends. Every associate Clark had at the planet adored Dick, and if Dick wasn't the most faithful partner a person could have, Clark would have been concerned over both Lois and Jimmy's affections for his mate.

"Dick needs time with his friends," Clark confessed truthfully, "And I thought this would be a good chance to get to know his favorite niece a little better."

Lian beamed up at him. "I _am_ his favorite," she agreed. Lowering her voice she added, "And he says that I would still be his favorite, even if Cerdian was a girl." Fortunately, Clark was saved from needing to respond when the five-year-old’s attention shifted to the array of flowers that lined the concrete of the patio.

"Do you like those?" Clark asked.

"They’re pretty. These are …tulips, right?" Lian asked uncertainly. At Clark’s nod, she reached out and petted one of the red petals lightly before sitting down cross-legged on the patio. Leaning back on her hands, she informed him, "My Aunt Dinah knows all about flowers."

"She’s a florist," Clark offered as he sat his lemonade glass out of the way and mimicked Lian’s sitting posture.

Lian wrinkled her nose in response. "She mostly can kick your butt. And Batman’s. And Daddy’s. And the Titans. And pretty much everybody’s. And she knows a lot about flowers. Is that what a florist is? Someone who kicks butt and knows about flowers?"

"In your Aunt Dinah’s case, yes."

"Okay, then. She’s a florist." Lian peered at the flowers thoughtfully. "She has a lot more flowers than you and Uncle Dick do."

"Well, neither Uncle Dick nor myself care for flowers very much," Clark admitted. "But those were a gift from Dick’s Alfie, and they reminded me of the place where I grew up." Metropolis was a lovely city, but things didn’t grow quite so wild and free as they did in Smallville. Alfred’s tulips were as close as he could get to Ma’s prize-winning rosebushes.

"I met Uncle Dick’s Alfie once! He was _awesome_ and gave me cookies!" Lian said cheerfully.

"Oatmeal chocolate chip?"

" _Yes._ " Lian bounced excitedly to her feet and looked at the still cluttered patio table. "I really like cookies, Uncle Clark."

"Hmmm. Are you still hungry? You ate an _awful_ lot."

Lian turned a full on Harper pout towards him, and Dick hadn’t been kidding when he claimed that it could make a saint feel guilty. "But you didn’t have any _cookies,_ " she pointed out truthfully.

"Well, I’ll make you a deal," Clark said as he rose to his feet. "There’s something I have to take care of, but on my way back, I’ll try to stop by Madame Razz’s shop and pick you up a cookie and ice cream sandwich. How’s that?"

"That’s even better than regular cookies!" Lian exclaimed. Then she looked momentarily disappointed. "I hope I’m still here when you get back."

"I’m sure you will be." He ruffled her hair and gave her a gentle nudge towards her father and fellow Titans before ducking back into the apartment in order to shed his outer layer of clothing.

As he headed towards the emergency that called for Superman, his superhearing overheard Lian remark to the man they both loved that, "Uncle Clark’s not bad, for someone who's not a Titan."

Clark smiled into the sun’s rays, and figured that comment was worth at least a double-decker cookie and ice cream sandwich.


End file.
